Okay, I'll play the cynic here. Much as the thought of a new Jim Henson-related product sounds great, what exactly makes this a Jim Henson product, other than his name was slapped on the box? Did he design these creatures prior to his passing? Granted, they bear a resemblance to the Jim-style of cartooning (albiet a bit more polished and anime than Jim's scribbly style), but without some reference sketches from the Henson archives showing that Jim invented these little guys, it just seems a bit like false advertising. Of course, there's a whole other side of me that digs the designs and thinks they'd be a fun thing to have. But then that first, cynical side of me says, "Fun shouldn't cost $60.00." Regardless, I think the unaware consumer may believe Jim himself created these to see them released posthumously, and unless ample proof is given, I think the packaging is too misleading.

Please, don't get me wrong. I like their designs. But does it say somewhere that Jim himself designed them? I'd like to see the original sketches.

Click to expand...

On the package it says Jim Henson's City Critters, and they are based on Jim Hensons designs. The Jim Henson Company is developing a whole line of products based on Jim Henson's designs. Click here fore more: http://www.henson.com/podcast/Henson_Podcast_006.htm

That's good enough for me! My concern was that it was going to be like it was after Walt Disney died, where everything was "Walt Disney Presents..." as if he just created everything from "The Aristocats" to "Home on the Range", regardless of his death, just because the studio slapped his name on it. I'm pleased to see that's not the case with these Jim Henson-designed toys and that they come from the mind of the man himself. I can now happily shed my cynic persona and adopt that of the feverishly excited Muppet fanboy!

I wonder if these will be available in local chain stores like Newburry Comics (which would clearly sell something like this, as they have a lot of Kid Robot and Japanese blind boxed figures like this).

Okay, so I know this is an old thread... But after some searching at the Wiki for my own purposes, I found that these critters are Jim Henson designed. They're named "The Fearzogs", that's the entry I found that talks about them, hope this helps.